Rick Carlisle warned the Mavericks beforehand that there have been too many nights like this, too many games in which they have taken big leads, let up and allowed opponents to pull close.

On Friday night, their bad habit -- and the Toronto Raptors -- came back to bite them.

The Mavericks lost a 19-point first-half lead, fell behind by eight in the fourth quarter, forced overtime but fell, 109-108 at American Airlines Center, when Monta Ellis’ running shot bounced off the rim with two seconds left.

Instead of completing a 3-0 homestand and moving six games above .500 for the first time since they finished the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season at 36-30, the Mavericks (15-11) stumbled to a bad home loss and now must play at Phoenix on Saturday.

“That’s a game that we can’t lose,” said Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 22 points, but was forced to play a season-high 42 minutes. It showed. Nowitzki missed his last six shots and admitted he got tired down the stretch.

With the game tied at 101 and the final seconds ticking down in regulation, Nowitzki missed a turnaround from the left baseline at the buzzer that would have won it.

But everyone in the Mavericks locker room agreed that the game shouldn’t have come down to the final minutes.

“I mean, we’ve got to be the team that loses leads quicker than any team in the league,” Nowitzki said. “We give up a 19-point lead within a couple of minutes. You’ve got to be more solid.”

The Mavericks had won five of seven games in December and were 11-2 at home. They seemed on their way to another win after making 15 of 22 shots (68-percent) en route to a 33-22 lead after one quarter.

Dallas extended the lead to a seemingly comfortable 41-22 when Nowitzki exited for a rest with 8:13 left in the first half. Perhaps they got too comfortable.

Mavericks forward Shawn Marion said that as Toronto rallied, he heard Raptors players and coaches yelling from the sidelines which Dallas players Toronto should isolate on defense.

“We’ve got to collectively own this,” forward Marion said. “When people are trying to go at certain people, we’ve got to take it as a challenge and look at ourselves in the mirror and buckle down and do something about it.

"This sucks, especially since it was at home. We should have had this game."

Toronto pulled out the win despite Dallas getting 23 points from former Raptor Jose Calderon, 14 of which came during the fourth quarter and overtime. Dallas got 21 points from Monta Ellis, but he scored just two points in the fourth quarter and overtime, missing five of six shots.

By the time the media was allowed in the Mavericks locker room, Ellis had dressed and left.

“It went wrong in the first half,” Carlisle said. “We built a big lead and then we had breakdowns and too many mistakes. They chewed into the lead very quickly.

“It’s hard to build a 19-point lead in this league. You have to play well and you have to do a lot of things on both sides of the ball. To give up the lead that easy gave them a lot of life and they outlasted us.”

The Mavericks took a 99-98 lead with 1:06 left in regulation when Calderon rebounded a Toronto miss and found Marion streaking downcourt for a fast-break dunk.

Toronto’s Amir Johnson made one of two free-throws, then Marion gave Dallas a 101-99 lead with 20 seconds left after a feed from Calderon.

DeMar DeRozan’s baseline jumper tied the score with 16 seconds left. Nowitzki missed a turnaround jumper from the right baseline at the buzzer that would have given Dallas the win in regulation.

In overtime, Dallas’ Brandan Wright missed two free throws with 2:02 left and the game tied at 105, but Calderon gave the Mavericks a 108-107 lead on a three-pointer with 1:01 left.

DeRozan gave Toronto the lead back, but failed to make a free-throw to complete a three-point play opportunity. The Mavericks missed twice on the other end, but got two offensive rebounds, then Nowitzki missed a baseline fallaway with 35 seconds left.

Toronto’s Kyle Lowry missed a driving shot in the lane with 13 seconds left and Dallas rebounded and called timeout with 10 seconds left to set up the final play.

Ellis dribbled into the lane. Toronto had a foul to give. Nowitzki said he heard Raptors players yelling “foul, foul,” and Nowitzki figures that is why Ellis put up a rushed shot, thinking he was about to get fouled.

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